


Five Things That Were Different About Five

by anasticklefics



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29242488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anasticklefics/pseuds/anasticklefics
Summary: …and one thing that was the same.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Five Things That Were Different About Five

**1\. His drinking habits**

It wasn’t that any of them had thought Five would be the same once he was back, but the differences were so palpable to the rest of the siblings that the image of the 13 year old brother they’d lost was being crushed each and every day. Maybe that was for the best. They had the real Five here now, looking young and acting old. They had to get used to that.

Five had been way too young for drinking when he’d disappeared, but he had the habits of a 50 year old now, and it never failed to fuck Luther up whenever he caught his brother with a bottle in his hand.

Not only that, but the copious amounts of coffee he consumed was also rather worrisome and not something that body of his seemed capable of handling.

“Maybe you should slow down,” he told him one morning, watching him down his second cup of coffee in ten minutes.

Five scoffed. “Why?”

“You’re gonna be bouncing off the walls.”

“Better that than having to deal with you all without caffeine.”

“Hey, now.”

Five smirked at him over his cup. At least he had a sense of humor occasionally.

**2\. His nervousness**

Five had never been the most patient sibling. It had been evident when he’d gone time travelling; his eagerness getting the best of him in a way he couldn’t forgive. And while he wasn’t necessarily willing to allow the others to waste his time when time was the very last thing he’d had, he never really snapped at them. It was like watching a long suffering parent having to deal with their five children.

Vanya, who had spent so long under the influence of a pill, understood his frustration. She could also spot his nervousness from miles away. Could see his hands grabbing at his hair, clothes, whatever object was in front of him. He hadn’t been that fidgety back in the days.

“What’s eating at you?” she would ask, causing his constant fiddling to come to a halt. He never did reply.

**3\. His smiling, or lack thereof**

If Five decided to curl his lips, it was usually in a smirk. Never in a genuine smile. Allison remembered the boy who would absolutely beam when things went his way, but now he simply looked smug. How come most older men always forgot to smile as they grew older?

“You know you have a really cute face, right?”

Five looked up at him, eyebrow raised. “Thank you?”

“Such cute dimples too.”

“They’re not as cute when you’re in your 50s.”

“Lies.” Allison grinned, trying to imagine it. “Old people are already cute. The dimples would just make them cuter.”

“50 isn’t even _old_ , Allison.”

“I didn’t say it was.” She tilted her head at him. “Oh, no. I get the urge to pinch your cheek.”

“All right, I’m out.”

“Oh, come on, I wasn’t gonna _do_ it.”

“Goodbye, Allison.”

**4\. His sleeping patterns**

Diego had come home more than once to find Five passed out on his bed, cursing his teleporting abilities each time. He only woke him up the first few instances, though; opting to let him rest unless he desperately needed the bed himself.

Sometimes he watched him, wondering what brought him there of all places. Other times he moved around him, sending him glances and getting caught off guard at how cute the bastard could look.

He didn’t use to sleep like this; could usually only relax enough in his own bed. Diego reckoned he had no real home now, and maybe he should’ve felt flattered he trusted him enough to come here, but he had a feeling it was more than that. Five slept sporadically, but when he did, he did so for a long time. Diego could leave him there for a whole day and return to him barely having moved. It was concerning.

But who was Diego to nag someone about their coping mechanism?

**5\. His attachment to inanimate objects**

Ben had seen more than he could even begin to explain due to people thinking they were being unobserved. The thing was, just because Klaus was turned away, it didn’t mean he was.

He saw Five talk to the mannequin often now, wondering if he made up the answers or if she, Dolores, actually spoke to him in his mind. He knew loneliness first hand, what with being dead, but he reckoned being entirely alone and alive was a different thing. You actually had a sanity you could lose.

He watched Five without Dolores, too. He seemed to miss her. Miss having a thing to hold onto, if the way he would occasionally stare at the wall was any indication. But maybe Ben was projecting.

**And one thing that was the same.**

Klaus wasn’t necessarily a super affectionate person, but compared to Five it seemed as if cuddling was his favorite activity. What had been play wrestling with Diego, had never been seeped into his interactions with Five. And yet he remembered the effect a poke had had on him, once. He only realized it was still the case on accident. A graze to his brother’s side when he was talking animatedly, and Five’s recoil enough to make him shut up for a second.

“Oho!” he said. “What do we have here?”

“Klaus, I will kill you.”

“Now wouldn’t that be ironic.”

“Klaus, I swear-”

But Klaus wasn’t listening. If there was one thing from his childhood he could remember clearly, it was that Five couldn’t teleport when he was laughing. He was about to make him laugh, all right.

He pounced, trapping him against the wall, and Five’s laughter as Klaus tickled the everloving hell out of his ribs was glorious.


End file.
